Mio's Anguish and Ritsu's Enlightenment
by WeatheredPeach
Summary: Twoshot. Ch1: Mio despairs over her feelings for Ritsu during a sleep over. Ch2: Ritsu is enlightened. First half is angsty, second half is humorous and fluffy. Mitsu fic. Femlash. Yuri. You know.
1. Mio's Anguish

So I wrote a Mitsu story. I wanted a bit of a mood whiplash between the chapters. I tried to make the first chapter kinda angsty while I tried to make the second chapter as mushy and giddy as I could. The story also kinda involves some "adult themes", or what ever you wanna call it, but nothing I personaly deem worthy an M rating. Keep in mind that this is but my second fanfic. It's been great fun to write. I apologize if any character seems OOC. I also complain at myself for sucking at naming stuff.

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**Mio's Anguish**

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"Ri...Ritsu..." a tall girl studdered at her sleeping friend, holding tightly onto a pillow. She was currently wearing her pyjamas as she was sleeping over just like she had done so many times before. Ritsus room was dark, it was night and a thunderstorm raged outside. "May I sleep in your bed tonight?" the girl asked her sleeping friend. She hated thunder. She was easily scared and _thunder_ was far, far beyond her. As if to demonstrate her fear for thunder the lightning struck, making the tall girl jump a bit, making her unusually long hair sway. She went on to wimper untill the thundering had stopped, clenching onto her pillow.

"Mio..." a voice spoke drowzily. It belonged to the girl lying infront of the pillow wielding scaredy-cat. Her short, light brown hair did nothing to hide her closed eyes. She was still more asleep then awake but she still she managed to move herself closer to the wall to make some space for her friend. This had happened before, whenever Mio had dreamt a nightmare or they had watched a horror flick before going to bed. Times like these Mio just couldn't be left alone, Ritsu knew this even in her sleep. She wasn't Mios best friend for nothing.

The tall girl hesitated. She knew she would regret what she was about to do, but being alone when the thunderstorm raged outside was unbearable. So she tucked herself in, next to her friend, on the same bed and underneath the same sheet. And it was warm, so warm, so damn warm there besides her sleeping friend, and it was spreading to her. God, she could feel Ritsus breath if she really concentrated, it almost scorched her skin.

Feelings of warmth was but a part of the whole experience, there was sight too, and Ritsu was all that she could see. Ritsu had removed her headband (it is really uncomfortable to sleep with it on - she had tried it once...) letting her magnificent hair run wild. Oh how Mio loved when she did that. Why did she have to think her friend was so _sexy?_ If Ritsu knew what her friend thought of her she would have to think that Mio was weird, right? If she knew she would start to distance herself from Mio, she was sure, and she couldn't stand to even think that thought.

As Mio laid lost in thought Ritsu, still asleep, somehow had come to the conclusion that now was a good time to shift her position. She turned herself around so that she laid on her back, stretching her arm out, as if she wanted Mio to rest her head on her arm. The taller girl let the arm slip in under her head, sighing as she touched her beloved friends upper arm. She was close now, way too close. Being this close to Ritsu, Mio could feel a sweet scent, Ritsus scent, and it was so wonderful. She should have been in bliss, being this close to the one she loved, yet all she felt was despair. Ritsu would never answer her feelings, this she knew. Ritsu wasn't like _that,_ like Mio. Even though she didn't do anything to confirm this she just _knew, _the world was never that easy. She had to live with those feelings unrequinted.

Mio slowly turned her eyes over to watch her friend. A few tears made their way steadily from her eyes downwards, landing on either the bed or her friends arm. _'Oh God, Ritsu...' _she thought when her vision wandered upon Ritsu. Her friend wore a button-up shirt and apparently she hadn't felt any need to close any of the buttons. Mio knew she did this because Ritsu had trust in her friend. Trust that Mio now betrayed by ogling her friends poorly concealed breast. She was filled with guilt as she thought of how nice it must be to to touch that skin and to have Ritsu touch _her._ Steadily an unfathomable fervor was building in her abdomen, just getting more intense as she was intoxicated by her friend. Slowly she slid the hand that was closest to the bed down into her pants.

She was betraying Ritsus trust. If she knew, she would hate her. If she knew what Mio was doing, Ritsu would surely be disgusted by her actions. But there was nothing else she could do, she was burning inside, her reason immolated by wicked lust for her friend. Sobs filled the air as Mio was filled with dread. What if Ritsu awoke? Mio did the best she could to keep her voice down, to hold in the sobbing and making the sharp breathing as unnoticable as possible as tears streamed from her eyes. What little pleasure there was in this was combined with a tenfold of disgust and dread. Mio hated this.

_'I'm so sorry, Ritsu.' _Mio thought as her free hand landed on Ritsus barely concealed chest. She had lost what ever reason she had had to the heat, and now the need to be close to her friend had overshadowed everything else in her mind. Her eyes darted fervently between her hand and Ritsus face to make sure her friend was still asleep, as she carefully moved her hand across Ritsus chest, over her breast. Mio was disgusted with herself and what she was doing to her friend, but she couldn't stop.

"Ritsu... I'm so... sorry..." was heard in between the sobs and heavy breathing. "I'm so... so... sorry... I love... you..." she sobbed to her sleeping friend. She soon tensed up, shuddered, her hand clenching onto Ritsus open shirt as she whimpered, trying to conceal her voice. She soon relaxed, still crying, and let go of the brunettes shirt. With the fervor gone all that was left for her to feel was guilt and despair. Relieved that Ritsu hadn't woken up, Mio watched over her friend as she cried herself to sleep.

The following morning Mio was gently shaken out of her sleep by a beaming Ritsu. _'She's always so beautiful.' _Mio thought to herself.

"Good morning, princess" Ritsu greeted her.

"Good morning." Mio tried to respond as a yawn overtook her. When she was done yawning she turned her eyes to fully see Ritsu, who still hadn't closed her shirt. "C-c-close your shirt, Ritsu!" she studdered loudly, blushing. She did not want to be reminded of what she had done that night. Now she did, and a wave of guilt washed over her.

"Excuse me..." Ritsu said as she closed her shirt. Then she blushed. _Ritsu_ blushed. _'Oh God, please tell me she didn't notice anything.' _Mio prayed, as she tried her best to hide her unrest from Ritsu.

"Hey Mio, didn't you sleep well?" Ritsu asked kindly. _'So she didn't notice, that's good.' _Mio thought to her self, a bit relieved.

"Yeah, something like that." she answered the brunette. "Shouldn't we get ready for school?" she continued - she just wanted to get out of that room as soon as possible, so that the lingering discomfort would dissolve.

"Yeah!"

Mio grabbed her change of clothes, said to Ritsu something about changing in the bathroom and then she did just that. When she was done she descended onto the lower floor via the stairs, walking into the kitchen where Ritsu already was seated. Mio wasn't really in the mood for anything, but she ate what she was offered (nothing tasted of anything at all) and was relatively quiet. As Ritsu asked how she felt she said she had a bit of a headache, that it'd probably pass sometime during the day, that she didn't really need to take anything for it, that yes, she was really fine. Ritsu really cared for her, didn't she? To Mio this was rather bittersweet, she didn't deserve such care, yet she was cared for, by the one she loves the most. She wanted to cry. She didn't.

When they were done they thanked Ritsus parrents for the breakfast and headed upstairs to prepare the last things needed before school. Mio didn't manage to speak very much as they brought their stuff together, last night still on her mind. When they had made their way outside Ritsu started a rather trivial conversation, and Mio could speak with ease, despite her rather depressed mood. This was but one of the parts of Ritsu that she loved, it was so easy for them to speak with one another. Her mood had improved greatly by the time they had reached the trainstation. Mio noticed how Ritsu now wore a beautiful smile.

The train ride was spared from any events other then passengers stepping into and out of the cart, just like any other day. And just like the ride to school that saturday the lessons were uneventful. Then practice came.

Mio couldn't really give Tsumugis cakes and tea the proper attention they deserved, her mind was elsewhere, and as a result they ended up tasting slightly bland to her. She still thanked Tsumugi for her kindness as usual and went on to set up her bass.

During practice Mios mood was relfected by her bass playing. She was lagging with her playing. Together with Ritsus pace, which was faster then usual, and her sloppy playing they only managed to play through a few songs before deciding to stop practicing for the day.

Mio felt like she could use some time alone. She really wanted to get everything off of her mind.

Azusa and Yui headed out first having made plans together. Soon thereafter Mugi took leave and headed towards the teachers room, and left were only the bass player and the drummer.

"Hey, wanna head home together?" Ritsu asked.

"Sorry, my dad's gonna go shopping after work and I think I'm going to join him." Mio lied.

"Oh, okey."

After a few minutes of silence Ritsu asked

"Hey, everything's okey? You've seemed kinda down today."

"Yeah, I've had a bit of a head ache today." It felt more like a heart ache. "I'll be fine." Mio felt better then she had during the morning, but not by much.

"Are you sure you will be fine? I'm worried about you."

"Yeah, I really am." _'I don't deserve your worry.'_

"Mio. Are you really sure?"

"Yes. Just you go on home without me, dad will be here soon enough." Mio was getting a bit annoyed at her self, and sadly this showed in her voice. She was happy Ritsu cared for her to this extent, but she just wanted to be alone. Time spent with Ritsu was supposed to be fun to her, and right now she just couldn't appreciate it.

"I'll be heading home now, okey? I'll text you later today. Bye!" Ritsu said after she got up from the drumset, making her way to the door.

"Please do. Thank you for today Ritsu." Mio warmly said. Ritsu smiled a bit as she walked out. "See you on monday!"

Mio was left to her own now. When she was sure Ritsu had gone tears started falling from her eyes. She was tired, she was sad, her love probably didn't answer her feelings, she had all the right to cry. And she did. She sat alone in the club room, sobbing silently, thinking of Ritsu for about about fifteen minutes before she was interrupted by the door opening.

"Mio, what's happened?" she heard Mugis voice ask her seriously.

"Oh it's nothing." she said as she wiped her tears, not wanting to bother anyone else with her own problems.

"Of course something happened." Mugis voice was soft.

"Y..yes.. Sort of." Mio tried to collect her self.

"Want to talk about it?" was all Mugi needed to ask for Mio to give in. She told her friend about how she'd fallen in love with Ritsu, about how she dreaded how she possibly could lose their friendship, most of it. She spared Mugi the more embarrassing sides to her love, the lust, but she got most of it out to her friend. Mugi surely was a godsend. When she was done, Mugi asked:

"Why not just tell her how you feel?"

"But what if she would hate me?" Mio fought back with a cliché.

"Do you think Ricchan could hate you?"

"N...No! But... She wouldn't love me back. She's _normal,_right?"

"And you're saying that _we _are abnormal?" Mugi teased.

"N.. Not really..."

"I don't think Ritsu will think less of you because you tell her how you feel for her, it just wouldn't be like her if she did." Mugi reassured. "I'm not saying you have to confess, just think about it. It might ease the pain a bit."

"Y...Yeah, I'll think of it." Mio said pondering. "Thank you for taking your time listening to me."

"I'm just happy to help." They both got up from their chairs.

"I should be going home now." Mio said and went to tuck her bass into its softcase.

"I'll be staying for a bit..." Mugi said, lost in thoughts.

"Waiting for someone?"

"What? Oh, eh... Y...Yeah..." Mugi was blushing now.

_'So _that's _how it is...' _Mio mused with a smile on her lips. "I see..."

Mugi was getting redder.

"Well, I think I should go now. _Good luck._"

Mugi looked at her feet and said "The same t-to you. Bye." Before Mio left Mugi gave her a bright smile.

Later, at her house, Mio had been engrossed in homework for a good forty minutes when her phone gave a buzz. She picked it up. She had recieved a message from Ritsu, saying:

hey Mio! wanna hang out? we could watch a movie or something at your place. we were at my place last time, it is now your turn. ^^

Hmm, she did want to spend time with Ritsu, but perhaps it'd just turn out like last night? As she couldn't decide quickly enough she flipped a coin - heads for yes, tails for no. It came up heads.

Sure, we can do something for a little while at my place. But I might have to study while you're here. You do know that we have homework for tuesday, right?

After she sent her reply Mio didn't even get time to lift her pen before getting Ritsus reply:

yay! i'll be bringing a few movies to your place then. i'll be there asap - have to eat first though. lets hope my parents have prepared for an early dinner. :D

She smiled at the screen. Her parents weren't home today, so she might as well make something for her self to eat now, before Ritsu would get there. As she got up from her homework to make her way down to the kitchen she stopped and thought of Mugis advice. Perhaps she should tell Ritsu how she felt. Then she got an idea.

Mio grasped the coin which she previously had tossed and decided that if she tossed it and it came up heads she would tell Ritsu about everything. If it on the other hand came up tails she'd keep her secret and never tell her friend how she truly felt. She flipped the coin and pulled her head closer to see the outcome. Then she smiled bitterly and went downstairs to make herself dinner. The coin had come up tails.


	2. Ritsu's Enlightenment

And here is the brighter, lighter, fluffier second chapter (wrote them at the same time, felt kinda schitzophrenic. Nnng... I regret postponing my homework so much.) I'll be delighted if this can bring any joy. Revised the story a bit, making it a bit longer with some more dialogue. (Cheers for the fast review/comment thingie, t'was motivating! :D) Also rewrote some parts which sounded a bit funny, corrected some spelling and grammatical errors that I found. (I can say to my defence that I was a bit tired at the time of writing the last parts, and sorta wanted to finish it all up for posting.) Gah, I "forgot" about my history homework again.

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**Ritsu's Enlightenment.**

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"I'm gay! That _must_ be it!" Ritsu exclaimed to the world in sudden enlightenment. The world, being her room, was inhabited by herself and her brother, who had entered unnoticed in search for a manga to read. He raised his eyebrow at his sister who he thought was acting a bit weird. No, wait, she wasn't _acting _weird, his sister _was _weird and was just acting accordingly. As for the announcement... It was plausible. He would not be surprised if Ritsu turned out to be homosexual, but right now he doubted the truth of the statement. He knew his sister well enough to doubt everything she said. Not wanting to get involved in this he just shrugged and silently made his way out of the room, remaining unnoticed, as he had a newly aquired manga to read.

Ritsu was extatic, she finally knew what made her feel the way she did. It all made sense! She was in love with her best friend Mio, it was the only way to explain it all. For how long she had been in love she could not tell, she had just realized, hell, it wasn't untill what had happened earlier this morning that she started noticing something in her heart was a bit off. She thought of what had happened earlier that day.

Ritsu had woken early that morning, a whole hour before she actually would have had to wake up to get to school on time. When she awoke she was engulfed in such a comfortable warmth that she just couldn't go back to sleep, she had to savor it. And the scent was divine, it gave the atmosphere of safety, comfort and sent her heart aflutter. The feeling was almost nostalgic. And when she finally opened her eyes the sight she caught brought a wide grin to her lips. Next to her was a sleeping Mio, who must have crawled into her bed during the thunderstorm, and a sleeping Mio must be one of the cutest visions to behold, atleast to Ritsu anyways.

The scene made her feel a tickling warmth spreading throughout her chest. This feeling had been identified as the feeling of Mio by the brunette. She had no idea what the cause of it was, but it felt really pleasant just being together with her friend. She enjoyed watching her friend as it gave her that ticklish, warm feeling whenever Mio smiled, was scared, hell, even when she was angry! Which must have been why she would scare her, she loved the way Mio reacted to her teasing, it filled her with that warmth.

While watching over her sleeping friend, Ritsu was filled with the urge to touch her beautiful hair. This too had happened before, but she had resisted. Just running up to anyone to touch them was kind of weird, even for Ritsu. But there was nothing there to stop her now! They were alone, Mio was asleep, nothing would happen if she just ran her fingers through her friends hair once, right? So she did. And God, wasn't it worth it? Mio hair felt like heaven, or atleast what heaven _should _feel like, there was nothing like it. Ritsu would get addicted to this if she wasn't careful.

When she felt that she had given Mios hair enough attention (who was she kidding anyways, she could keep on doing this forever) she sighed in glee as her eyes turned to Mios face. Still asleep that friend of hers looked like a goddess in Ritsus eyes. She thought. She hadn't seen a goddes before, but they should look somewhat like this, right? And just like she had wanted to touch her friends hair Ritsu now wanted to stroke her lovely skin. When her fingers sligtly touched the beauty that laid down besides her her fingeres tingeled with that very same warmth that filled her chest. Mio was warm. She was the source of the warmth, Ritsu was sure of that now.

After yet a while another urge struck her. But this one was rather... Unsetteling. See, her eyes had fallen uppon Mios lips and, frankly, they looked... Kissable. Very. And so she had thought _'I wonder how it'd feel to kiss her.'_ And, realizing what she just had thought, she blushed a bit and retracted her hand. Now, Ritsu had no problem with stroking Mios cheek as she was asleep, but kissing her was something completely different. It would certainly feel unfair to kiss her friend as said friend was asleep. They had kissed as children, sure, but this felt different somehow. Less naive and more... Wait, why had she even thought of _kissing her best (female!) friend _in the first place? Something didn't add up, but Ritsu couldn't figure it out. She would have to think it through thuroughly later, when there wasn't a Mio distracting her right there next to her.

She looked over to the watch hanging on the wall, she still had twenty minutes. Which means that _she had spent fourty minutes already, just watching Mio._ It had felt like five! Was it so fun just watching her sleep? There was something Ritsu really couldn't understand, so she decided to wake up Mio and get going.

As she shook the shoulder of her friend gently she couldn't help but loving the soft fabric of her pyjamas. It was like Mio had an aura granting a bonus of +5 to pleasantness to her surroundings, silly as it might seem.

"Good morning, princess." Ritsu said as the lovely black haired girl slowly opened her eyes.

"Good mo..." the answer disappeared into a yawn. Suddenly Mios eyes widened as she blushed furiously. "C-c-close your shirt, Ritsu!" she almost shouted at her friend.

"Excuse me..." said Ritsu as she closed her shirt, hiding her chest. She blushed a bit, although she really didn't mind Mio seeing her, they had taken baths before after all. But Mio had, apparently, something against seeing her bare chest the first thing she did in the morning. Ritsu really wouldn't mind if they had switched places, if it was she who was awoken by a lightly clad Mio. No, she would rather _like _it... _'OhgodwhatamIthinking?Stop.' _She blushed even deeper.

"Hey Mio, didn't you sleep well?" Ritsu sincerely asked Mio, who looked... Annoyed? It was a complex expression. There was a hint of sadness together with that stern expression she wore when she was upset. It was rather unsetteling Ritsu thought.

"Yeah, something like that." Mio sighed. "Shouldn't we get ready for school?"

"Yeah!"

Ritsu changed to her school uniform in her own room as Mio took her change of clothes to the toilet to change. When she had changed her clothes she darted downstairs. She was the first of the two to reach the table, but Mio came into the kitchen soon enough. She still seemed to be a bit down, so Ritsu enquired her about it but all she said was that she had a headache. Pressing her further revealed nothing, she didn't even want anything for her headache. Ritsu cared greatly for her best friend, but when she was acting like this there wasn't much she could do for her. She wished Mio wouldn't be so stubborn sometimes, but this part of her was kinda charming when it didn't get in the way to much. Which it did now. Mio looked like she could cry damnit. But they were soon done with breakfast.

As they packed their stuff and got ready for school Mio barely spoke at all. When they had left the building, just like that rock icon once did, Ritsu managed to get a conversation going and even though Mio seemed a bit fatigued as they made their way to the trainstation her mood seemed to pick up the more they spoke. This made Ritsu feel very content. By the time they reached the trainstation Ritsu couldn't help but smile at how much Mios mood had improved.

They spoke a bit during the train ride, nothing really happened. Once in school Ritsu couldn't really concentrate properly during the half-day worth of lessons as her mind was preoccupied with worrying about Mio. But she seemed alright now, which calmed Ritsu a little bit, but she still only paid half attention to class.

Once the school day was done they had scheduled practicing with the band. The tea and snacks prepared by Tsumugi tasted great, as usual. Ritsu took her seat behind her beloved drums. She played fast and sloppy today, as if this would somehow make time go quicker. She wanted to go home so that she could think through what had happened earlier today without distractions. This play style, together with Mio playing slightly too slow made for an interesting sound! Too bad the other bandmates didn't seem to think that too. The practice was soon over.

After a bit of talking Yui and Azusa walked out together. They had plans. _Together._ Ritsu wondered if there was something going on between the two. They sure were clinging on to each other alot. And after awhile of talking Tsumugi told them she would be heading over to the teachers room. So she was going to see Sawako, right? Alone? Out of her _own free will?_ Was Ritsu just seeing things that weren't there because of what had happened earlier today, or was she suddenly aware of a world that hadn't shown itself to her before? Now she just wanted to get home so that she could clear her mind. So she asked:

"Hey, wanna head home together?"

"Sorry, my dad's gonna go shopping after work and I think I'm going to join him." Mio said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh, okey." Ritsu said. She wondered wether she should ask something that had been on her mind for awhile. Soon she did.

"Hey, evereything's okey? You've seemed kinda down today."

"Yeah, I've had a bit of a head ache today. I'll be fine." Ritsu was sure there was more to it then just a simple head ache. Head aches never had this much of an impact on Mio, she _knew this._

"Are you sure you will be fine? I'm worried about you." She really was.

"Yeah, I really am." Mio answered. It was a lie, Ritsu could tell.

"Mio. Are you really sure?"

"Yes. Just you go on home without me, dad will be here soon enough." Mios voice was getting a bit harsh, just a tiny bit. Perhaps she just wanted to be alone? There wasn't really anything Ritsu could do when Mio didn't cooperate. Ritsu disliked this, she wanted to help her friend out, she wanted to be there for her, but if she wouldn't allow her to help she just couldn't. Giving a slight sigh at her own incapabillity Ritsu got up from the drumset.

"I'll be heading home now, okey? I'll text you later today." Ritsu said as she couldn't let her friend be sad the whole day. But if she wanted to be alone she would let her. "Bye!"

"Please do. Thank you for today Ritsu. See you on monday!" Mio said with a slight smile on her lips. Seems like Ritsu got through to her, which was atleast a little bit satisfying. Smiling a bit she now made her way out of the club room, passing the teachers room on the way out. She decided to peek a bit inside the room, and surely enough Tsumugi stood beside Sawako, chatting eagerly with the teacher. She kept a wide smile on her face and a slight bluh. _'She's _so _in love, I just know it.' _Ritsu thought to herself. Then she went home.

Once home she had gone straight to her room and put that brain of hers to work. And soon she came to a staggering conclusion, it wasn't really that hard, she had had the puzzle basicly solving itself around her. After about ten minutes she shared her new found wisdom with the room, and that's where she was now.

Ritsu laid herself down on her bed. What was she to do now that she had figured it all out? She wanted to do something about her recently discovered love, she didn't want to wait. But what could she do? She wanted to spend time with Mio. Yes. Going to her place must be a great start. But then what? Slowly steer the current subject they were talking about in towards lesbianism? Was that even _possible?_ She could always confess her feelings without any kind of wanring. Even better, she could just jump and kiss her. That would certainly stun the poor girl... But it wasn't very fair and if Mio didn't like her back she might get mad at her. This is Mio we're talking about after all. But perhaps she should just improvise. Yeah, that ought to be the best thing to do. Besides, she didn't have to confess straight away, she could wait a week or two. Perhaps. Gaaaah, she wanted to be with Mio _now._ But she had gone shopping (to Ritsus knowledge) and wouldn't be home until later. So she fetched some manga to reread.

Alright, atleast an hour and a half must have passed now, she _has_ to be home. Ritsu was getting more relentless by the minute. Then she thought of her mobile phone, why not send her a text message asking if they should do something tonight? And sure she did.

hey Mio! wanna hang out? we could watch a movie or something at your place. we were at my place last time, it is now your turn. ^^

It took a little while for Mio to answer, in which time Ritsu managed to produce atleast twenty-five different sounds by drumming on everything she could reach with her fingers. Needless to say, she was restless. Then her phone buzzed.

Sure, we can do something for a little while at my place. But I might have to study while you're here. You do know that we have homework for tuesday, right?

Mio Replied. It was sooo her to bother with capitalization. Even when writing in katakana, even though _it didn't work that way._ Ritsu stared at the screen of her phone in disbelief. She then replied:

yay! i'll be bringing a few movies to your place then. i'll be there asap - have to eat first though. lets hope my parents have prepared for an early dinner. :D

So she was going to get to spend some time with Mio. Score! So, what should they do? Mio needed to cheer up, Ritsu knew that. Perhaps a good movie? No horror movies, she didn't want to tease her friend when she was down. So a few laid back, relaxing movies oughta do the trick! And perhaps some live-dvds with a band they both liked, yeah, that sounds great.

When Ritsu had packed her bag she waited for about five minutes. Wasn't dinner ready yet? She wanted to go _now. _But she still wanted to eat dinner with her family. If she would help with the cooking it would have to go faster! Thus she ran downstairs and asked if she could help with anything. It turned out that there was a few things that she could do, which was great for Ritsu as it gave her something to do while waiting.

When she finally had eaten she sprinted up to her room, grabbed her bag, shouted something about going over to Mio and hurried out the door. She almost ran. Once at the door she quickly found the hidden key. She knew the Akiyama residence well, she had been here so many times before, had spent so much time together with Mio. And she was going to spend so much more time together with her friend, and she was going to enjoy it thuroughly now that she knew how she felt.

"I'm home!" Ritsu yelled inside half-jokingly before she returned the key. This actually sent a warm shiver of delight through Mio, but Ritsu wouldn't notice.

"I'm in my room!" Mio shouted after the main door had closed. Ritsu threw off her shoes and ran for the source of the shout.

"You alone?" she asked as she came into the room where the dark haired beauty had risen to greet her.

"Yeah, I'll be home alone for tonight."

"Great! I brought some movies, forget about the homework."

"But..."

"Just relax a bit, will you?" Ritsu cut her off. Doing homework on a saturday was just _wrong._ She put her bag down. She was going to help her friend down along the right path. _'All she need is a little push. Literally.'_

Things didn't really go as Ritsu had planned. She was just going to push Mio down on her bed and then turn to the TV to start up a movie. But as she advanced upon her friend she stumbled, bringing them both down on the bed. One could say that this was better then planned as she was, just like she had wanted, closer to Mio. Perhaps a bit _too _close. Certainly a bit too close. She had caught herself just a few inches from landing on Mio, who had fallen onto the bed, landing on her back. Ritsu, being positioned above her beloved, could feel the warmth of the girls body, who was all she could see. What she saw was big, widened eyes and cheeks glowing red. _'Adorable...'_

Faced with such an unreasonable situation Ritsu acted. Her body, her heart told her to get closer to Mio. Her poor brain never got the chanse to interfere as her lips were already pressed against her friends in the most awkward of kisses. Kisses get really awkward when no one knows what to do and only one part is actually participating in said kiss. But the awkwardness was bearable, she could feel Mio's lips. They were warm, soft, intoxicating. As her heart pounded away like mad Ritsu's brain got some kind of control back over her body and made her pull back.

_'OhcrapIjustkissedher,didn'tI?' _That wasn't good, wasn't good at all. Ritsu hoped that her friend wasn't too shaken from what had happened. The experience had been wonderful to Ritsu, yet Mio seemed to be in some state of shock.

"I'm so sorry." Ritsu almost whispered, an apologetic smile on her face. She thought she should explain herself. "I, uh..." This was hard. "..hmm... I might have... sort of... fallen a bit in love with you...? Yeah, that's it." _'Good job, Ritsu, that didn't sound awkward _at all_.'_ All different kinds of emotions was running through her head as she spoke, inside was a bit of a mess. She could feel her heart tickle as she spoke, a constant lump at the back of her throat, warmth _everywhere. _She shook.

Ritsu soon got up from the bed.

"I think I should go now..." The least she could do was to leave Mio alone for a while, perhaps they could sort it all out tomorrow. "Feel like I should, uh... apologize for kissing you out of the blue... eh... Sorry." she slowly said and turned to the door.

"Wait!" Mio shouted way too loud.

Ritsu stopped. _'Oh god, she is going to kill me.' _She could hear her friend getting up from the bed. Mio sobbed. Slowly the sobbing came closer and closer untill Ritsu was tighly embraced by warm taller girl rested her head on the brunettes shoulder, her tears wetting the fabric beneath her head.

"D...don't go..." was heard amidst the sobs. "Please..."

Ritsu wriggled around a bit so that she could face the sobbing girl and returned the embrace. She felt Mio's warmth, both from her breath and her body, her heavy breathing and the tears that fell upon her. Mio took her hands from Ritsus back and led them up to tilt her friends face upwards. Then she pushed their lips together while resting her own arms over Ritsus shoulders, who soon answered her kiss. Ritsu had stopped thinking by now. When they parted their lips Mio rested her forehead against Ritsus.

"I... I love you..." She said quietly.

"You do?"

"Yes!" They stood still for a while. "I need to sit down. My legs won't support me."

The couple made their way to the bed, slowly, and sat down. Ritsu took Mio's hand in her own and asked:

"Are you still crying?"

"Crying in relief. For so long... I thought that you'd never... l...love me back." What Mio had said made Ritus heart ache.

"Sorry for being so thick." She could feel the grip on her hand tightening.

"Nn..." Mio shook her head. "Don't be."

"But haven't you been lonely?"

"But I'm not lonely anymore, right?" Mio's voice had gotten lighter.

"That's right!" Ritsu said and moved closer. Their shoulders touched and they sat like this for a while in silence.

"Let me hear you say it again." Mio suddenly said, staring down into her lap.

"Huh?"

"Tell me you... love..." Mio's free hand was fidgeting about.

"I love you, Mio." Ritsu said and nuzzled into the taller girls neck, making her shiver. "How about you?"

"I..." _'I can finally tell her.' _"Relly love you."

"Mio... You're crying."

Mio nodded slowly, sobbing. Ritsu waited for her to stop crying before she talked again, till muffled a bit by Mio's neck.

"May I stay the night?"

"What?" Mio stared at her friend with wide eyes, her cheeks glowing with a furious blush.

"OH! Oh, no, I didn't mean, I just meant sleeping, nothing really like that, not yet!" Ritsu rambled quickly. This made Mio giggle a bit, although she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"Please stay."

"Thank you." Ritsu said before pushing Mio down on the bed with a kiss. They soon made it comfortable for themselves and spent the following night in a shared embrace, kissing and talking to eachother untill dawn.


End file.
